Minnesota Twins had inside track on Mike Trout ... but passed

The Twins passed on drafting Mike Trout in 2009. He has gone on to star for the Los Angeles Angels. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The Twins were in.

Jeff Trout, whose speedy son Mike was rapidly climbing up baseball draft boards in the spring of 2009, had played four seasons as a Twins minor league infielder (1983-86).

The elder Trout, a fifth-round pick out of the University of Delaware, had fond memories of playing under manager Charlie Manuel and farm director Jim Rantz. Twins scout Ed Dunn had signed Jeff Trout, and after Dunn died in 1990, John Wilson replaced him the following year.

The predraft visit in tiny Millville, N.J., went great.

"We met at the house," recalls Wilson, based in Union Township, N.J., and now in his 23rd season with the Twins. "After I talked to Mike for probably an hour, the three of us sat there reminiscing. Finally, Mike, who was a great kid, sat up and said, 'Can I leave? You guys talk about the Twins.' He went to play basketball with his buddies."

Back in 1999, the Twins were out front on Miguel Cabrera, only to see the future Triple Crown winner sign with the Florida Marlins out of Venezuela at age 16 when the bidding got out of hand.

A decade later, the Twins had their shot at Mike Trout -- a narrow runner-up to Cabrera for the American League Most Valuable Player Award last season -- only to become one of 22 clubs that passed on him in the 2009 draft (the Arizona Diamondbacks passed twice).

Instead, the Twins took University of Missouri right-hander Kyle Gibson at No. 22, three picks before Trout went to the Los Angeles Angels with the second of back-to-back picks.

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No shame in that, especially with Gibson at Triple A and knocking on the door after making it back from Tommy John surgery.

"It's easy to look at 'SportsCenter' and say, 'How did they miss that guy?' " Wilson says. "It's a little different when you're in South Jersey and you're wearing a winter coat in April and the kid is facing guys throwing 78 (mph)."

Poor competition made it difficult to get a good read on Trout, who had switched from shortstop to center field his senior year at Millville Senior High. He had signed early at East Carolina, by no means a college baseball superpower.

Yet each time he saw Trout that spring, Wilson became a little more convinced he was viewing an unpolished diamond.

"One day he made a catch in center field, it was like Ron Swoboda (in the 1969 World Series)," Wilson says. "His acceleration was so dynamic. His burst was so quick. It just caught you off guard. It was kind of like, 'Wow, did I just see that?' "

Already an excellent base runner, Trout also showed the ability to hit and hit for power, even if his mechanics weren't particularly smooth and the opposition didn't provide much of a challenge.

"He was caveman strong," Wilson says. "And he could really run. Everybody knew about Mike. I did not discover him, by any means, but I don't think his name was front and center."

Wilson, the signing scout on Twins first-rounder Michael Cuddyer in 1997, recalls having a talk with Trout as the draft drew closer and asking him where he thought he might be selected. Fifth or sixth round, came the reply.

"Humble kid. He didn't know," Wilson says. "Nobody did."

The Twins gave Trout strong consideration, based largely on Wilson's recommendation, but they also had to consider their backlog of young outfielders.

At the time, they had Carlos Gomez and Denard Span in the majors. Over the previous three drafts, they had spent four high draft picks on tools-laden young outfielders: Aaron Hicks (14th overall in 2008), Ben Revere (28th in 2007), Chris Parmelee (20th in 2006) and Joe Benson (64th in 2006).

"The old adage is you don't take guys based on position," Wilson says, "but I remember having that dialogue back and forth as an organization: Is that where we want to go?"

When a minor arm injury caused Gibson to fall out of an expected spot in the top 10, the Twins pounced.

The Angels, who had back-to-back picks at 24 and 25, pulled Trout's card with the second of those picks, eventually signing him at the slot figure of $1.215 million despite late indications it could cost twice that amount.

Angels scout Greg Morhardt pushed hard for Trout, and the family seemed most comfortable with him, anyway.

There was a good reason for that: Morhardt had played with Jeff Trout in the minor leagues. A first baseman-outfielder, Morhardt went 36th overall in the 1984 draft ... to the Twins.